Summer Dresses To Beat The Heat

I have been focused on making some summer dresses over the past month in particular. It has been very hot here and for a couple of weeks, our air conditioner was broken. So I was spending my days in a very warm (hot) house. So here are some summer dresses to beat the heat. These use a variety of new patterns and older patterns. My hope is that it will inspire you to make your own and stay cool for the rest of the summer!

The Dresses

One thing I have noticed is that when it’s hot, I like a looser fit. I like simpler style lines and fewer details. This is definitely something to keep in mind if you feel the same.

BurdaStyle madras plaid dress front — BurdaStyle 6912

This dress Is one I made last year, but it has certainly gotten a lot of wear this summer. This was one of my Minerva makes for Minerva Fabrics. The pattern includes some style options, but this is a cool and comfortable dress.

Another one of my summer dresses to beat the heat is made with McCall’s 6885. Funny that this one is also a Minerva make.

The fabric is lightweight cotton (fantastic for summer). It also washes and dries easily so it’s easy to care for as well. Shirt dress styles are fun summer (or anytime) wear.

This particular pattern is almost like a shift dress/shirtdress combo!

Last is one of my most recent makes. I used McCall’s 7742 to make this blue chambray pull-on dress.

This fabric is lightweight and perfect for this type of style. It is cool and comfortable to wear.

As you can see from the back photo, the dress also features in-seam pockets. I am a person that loves to have pockets in dresses. If a pattern doesn’t have them included, they can certainly be added on most patterns. I have done this many times!

The Fabrics

As far as summertime fabrics are concerned, I personally like these:

linen/linen blends
cotton/cotton blends
quilting cotton
eyelet
seersucker

These are the ones I tend to have in my fabric stash.

Are there go to patterns or fabrics that you reach for more often in the summer? Let me know in the comments. I will also be making some shorts, so it’s not all dresses all the time for me. I you would like to see a previous post I wrote about summer dresses a couple of years ago, you can read that here.

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Pattern Review Of My Summer Dress Using McCall’s 7742

Here is a pattern review of my summer dress using McCall’s 7742. I wanted something that would be easy to sew, cool to wear, and cute! I went through my fabric stash and found this lightweight denim chambray. It was perfect for this dress. The material is soft and cool. It washes and dries well and seems like one of those things that will get softer with time.

For my dress, I made View B. As you can see from the photo above, it’s a shorter dress. I wasn’t completely comfortable with dress that length and I wished I had made it longer from the time I cut it out.

Wearing M7742 before alterations — *Before pic*

As you can see, it’s really not that short. It’s just shorter than most dresses I would wear.

So, I changed the hemline by cutting a 5″ strip from the selvedge edge of the fabric and adding it to the bottom of the dress.

M7742 front with selvedge hem detail — *After hem* *changes*

That way, I have the added length I wanted that really makes it more comfortable for me to wear AND I have an interesting feature at the hemline. I left it raw because that’s actually trendy, and I could hem it later if I chose to.

Styling

But I also styled this is a couple of different ways. Of course, I can wear it as is much like the pattern envelope shows.

I also show it belted. I used a scarf I had that also adds a bit of color to the outfit.

I also decided to do a more beachy look with a beach tote I’ve had for years.

Summer dress using M7742 with beach tote

Additional Pattern Details

There are some sleeve options for the dress. I made View B which is the ruffle edge sleeve. There’s also a longer sleeve (it may be 3/4 sleeve) as well as no ruffle and another type of flutter-type sleeve. This might be cute in an eyelet fabric as a swimsuit coverup.

It’s an easy pattern to make and it’s comfortable to wear. I made mine in a large, but I probably could have gone down to a medium. The pattern is XS-S-M or L-XL. There is no bust measurement on the pattern envelope (and not on the pattern tissue itself). It’s an easy pattern that I think is beginner friendly. You will want to use some type of woven fabric that is soft and lightweight.

Using a pattern I already have and fabric I already had in my stash is in line with my previous blog post .

I recommend this pattern, but you might want to consider how loose it is when choosing you size. That would be my only caveat.

Until next time…

*Some of these links may be affiliate links where I would earn a small amount of commission if you purchase through the link. Thank you!

Making Sleepwear

It’s been a while since I blogged, but I’ve definitely been busy sewing. Most recently, I have been busy making sleepwear. I used a few different patterns that I had in my pattern stash in order to make these garments. Robes for cooler weather and summertime are an essential item for me. And then there’s the new pair of short pjs I made.

Long Robe

The first item in this round of projects is this pink polka dot robe. I was supposed to have made this in the winter, but didn’t get around to it until spring.

The fabric on this one just seems to get softer every time it’s washed. I used a very old, but tried-and-true pattern for this. It’s McCall’s 4320. I have used this pattern many times for pjs and robes.

Short Pajama Set

The next sleepwear project is this short pajama set using the Lexington Pajama pattern from Sewing and the City patterns.

I used rayon challis for this project. The pajamas are very soft and the challis fabric definitely has a nice drape to it. It’s so nice to have some matching pajama sets that look good and make you feel good when you wear them! The pattern for this is a PDF download that has other options as well.

Short Summer Robe

Last, is this short summer robe I made using an old pattern I found in my pattern stash. I didn’t want to use the pattern for the longer robe (the pink) because that’s my TNT for a longer robe. I needed a pattern that I could just cut up and change as needed. So I found Simplicity 9330.

This one is made from a lightweight cotton that I bought locally. It’s a cool and comfortable option for those of us who like to be covered but not overheat in the summer.

If you haven’t tried making sleepwear for yourself, I highly recommend it! It can be a fun project that doesn’t take a lot of fabric (depending on what you’re making), and can also be quickly done. I made that short pj set in a weekend.

Until next time…